The 21st Century Classroom

Emerging is an accurate depiction of my technology use in the classroom.  Technology is slowly coming into view but has a long journey ahead before it's implemented fluently.  My school is 1-to-1 with iPads so one may think I'd be an expert by now.  However, as much as my heart and mind long for a redesign of instruction through the use of technology, I'm just not there.  Time is an enemy to any educator and I am no exception.  Even though we have the world at our fingertips, it doesn't mean that it's easy or quick to filter through the vast supply of ideas.  That's one reason I'm stuck in between substitution and augmentation on the SAMR model.  I've tampered with Modification but I've yet to do so successfully - at least in my own eyes.  
I teach Middle School Math and although my colleagues are among the best (in my biased opinion) I still often hear the phrase, 'math is a paper and pencil subject.'  With that mentality still driving our instruction it's hard to move into something less traditional and more innovative.  Allowing more explorative, relevant experiences via technology also poses a potential threat to us as educators as we may not know the answers to every inquiry a student brings our way.  Also, did you read I teach Middle School?  It seems an impossible task to get them to use technology for anything other than Fortnite (or other current fad) and a gossip strand.  I find it hard to know how much responsibility they can really handle and how to create the buy in for education.

One of the most common questions I am asked as a math teacher is "When are we ever going to use this?"  It is for that question that one of my top 21st century skills is Initiative.  I want my students to be internally motivated that they take the initiative to find the meaningfulness behind everything they do.  I then hope that as they begin that journey, they have the ability to be flexible and adaptive, realizing that learning is an ongoing process, not a final destination.  Lastly, I believe students need to learn to collaborate with one another in a healthy and positive way.  People are everywhere and involved in practically everything.  To be a vital part of society, one needs to be able to work well with others despite differences; accepting criticism, giving helpful feedback, and (again) being flexible and willing to compromise.  

The above skills being implemented by my students everyday would create the learning environment I'm wanting.  Students would be actively engaged in making meaningful connections to the content.  They would work together to find solutions, which would then lead to new questions and the cycle would continue.  I would no longer be the one with all the answers (even though I've never been that anyway), but rather just another teammate with different tools to bring to the table.  
I suppose I have most of the resources I need to create this environment (technology tools and students) - but I lack the confidence that I will not be wasting my/their time and efforts.  Personally, I'm a big picture kind of person.  I can create the vision and the idea, but I need others to bring it all together.  Ultimately, the plea from any teacher (bold assumption, I know), is for more time; time to collaborate with one another, time to create lessons which lend themselves to a student-led classroom, time to reflect and adapt, etc.  Our most vital resource is time. 

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 25, 2018 at 12:02 PM

    Sierra,

    There are several points you made in your post that I can relate to. First, I agree that time is a huge factor in the ability to implement the ideas and create the environment that we as teachers are wanting. We all want to be the best we can for our students, but it takes time to search out ideas, programs, and strategies, to learn how to implement them once we find them, and to reflect on them afterwards. There just isn't an abundance of time, so the process is slow (at least for me). Each year, I incorporate more technology and collaboration into my classroom, so I feel like as long as I'm heading in the right direction, I'm making progress.

    Another piece of your post that stood out to me was collaboration. I chose this as one of my top three elements as well. Collaboration is a lifelong skill. We collaborate as teachers, as family members, and as members of society. Being able to give and receive feedback and work productively with others doesn't come naturally. It is a skill that takes teaching and practice. We would be doing a disservice to our students if we didn't try to teach and encourage healthy collaboration. As a teacher, I collaborate with my teammates to come up with ideas that I wouldn't be able to on my own. In fact, I depend on it! I want my students to be able to do the same thing.

    Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It sounds like your heart is in the right place and you are heading in the right direction. I wish I could give us all the precious gift of more time!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMay 25, 2018 at 12:31 PM

    We chose about the same 21st Century Skills to highlight. They'll work well across many environments.

    ReplyDelete

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